Draft:Schloss Torgelow

The boarding school Schloss Torgelow is a state-recognised private school founded in 1994 and located in the historic castle in Torgelow am See, near Waren (Müritz) in the Mecklenburg Lake District, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.

School
The boarding school is oriented towards pupils in the top third of performance in grades 5 to 12, with teaching taking place in classes with a maximum of 12 pupils. The school participates in the state-wide Central Abitur.

Four times a year, written assessments are written for each subject and parents are informed of the averages for each subject. These are also displayed in the school building and sorted according to performance. Report cards are given at mid-year and end-of-year as at other schools.

Many of the classrooms have interactive whiteboards instead of chalkboards. Lesson or work materials can be accessed and edited via the school's WiFi in the student network.

Foreign languages
In addition to English, French, Latin, Spanish, Russian and Chinese can be learned at the school.

Schloss Torgelow is the only school in Germany that is a recognised "Internal Test Centre" of the English Cambridge University for the acquisition of certificates (Cambridge International Examinations) in English. In the ninth grade, all boarding school students spend a third of the school year in England as part of the "European Classroom" project. They attend the Kingham Hill School near Oxford as regular boarders.

In the upper senior classes, students have the opportunity to take part in a "Model United Nations" (THIMUN) conference. The international simulation game is held annually with around 1,800 students from all over the world.

Together with the Humboldt Institute Germany, the programme "A School Year in Germany" is offered for children and young people from abroad.

Boarding school
At Schloss Torgelow, younger and older students, girls and boys have their own living areas: the mentorates. As a rule, two pupils share a room. The mentorates are located in the restored castle, in the "Yellow House", in the school building and in several new buildings. The house from grade 5-7 is called the Haus der Zukunft ("House of the Future"). Each mentorship is active around the clock with two pedagogically trained mentors. In addition, a registered nurse is there for the students. Six weekends in the school year are spent together with events as boarding school weekends. All other weekends are optional home weekends. A bus service runs to and from Berlin and Hamburg on Friday and Sunday. For students who wish to stay, various leisure activities are offered, most of which can also be used during the week.

Leisure activities
In total, more than 70 different leisure projects are offered at the Torgelow boarding school. In addition to its own boats, a sports hall, a sports field and a tennis court are available. Driving licences and sailing and sports boat licences can be obtained. A fitness room and an indoor golf simulator were newly installed in August 2006. From the ninth grade onwards, inter-class team projects are offered. Grades 7 and 8 take part in compulsory dragon boat training.

Operation during the Corona pandemic
In January 2021, Schloss Torgelow received special permission to operate despite school closures throughout the district. Furthermore, an antigen test was carried out on every pupil on arrival and pupils are not allowed to travel home until further notice. On 18 February 2021, Schloss Torgelow's special permit was withdrawn, so that for the time being, teaching has to be done by distance learning

Likewise, the regular stay of the ninth grade at the English boarding school Kingham Hill School was aimed for in 2021. Due to the school closures in the UK, the class went into quarantine on site and then on the return journey to Germany.

Costs
The school fees for boarding school students depend on the grade and in the school year 2013/2014 amounted to between around 31,000 euros and 33,000 euros (excluding incidental costs) per year.

For the school year 2021/2022, the school and boarding costs amount to between 35,200 euros and 38,900 euros (depending on the class level, excluding incidental costs).

Known Alumni

 * Christiane Stenger, four-time World Junior Memory Champion (1999-2003) and Germany's youngest female high school graduate 2003, later author and TV presenter
 * Sebastian Bunk, German Junior Memory Champion 2004
 * Katharina Bunk, German Junior Memory Champion 2005, 2006, 2007 and Youth Memory World Champion 2005
 * Dorothea Seitz, German Junior Memory Champion 2008, 2009 and Youth Memory World Champion 2008, 2009
 * Jakob Knoblauch, played as "Branko" in the 2008 German cinema film "Die Rote Zora" one of the youthful main roles and later also in the Tatort series.
 * Tony Halbig (racing driver), has been racing in Formula 3 since the 2011 season.

Castle
The Torgelow estate had been owned by the von Behr-Negendank family since 1784. In 1904, they commissioned the renowned architect Otto March to build a new castle or manor house in the neo-baroque style. The von Behr-Negendank family was expropriated in 1945.

Links

 * Website of the boarding school Schloss Torgelow
 * Photos of the boarding school at Spiegel Online, (German), 11 May 2009
 * Schloss Torgelow – Elite-Internat zwischen Berlin und Hamburg, (German), luxus.welt.de, 22 January 2014
 * Spiegel.TV-Reportage – Elite-Internat Schloss Torgelow, (German), spiegel.tv, 8 January 2015